Oar bracket

ABSTRACT

A bracket mountable on an oar includes a support plate with a pin carried by one end of the plate. A U-bolt is fastenable to the other end of the plate and around the oar at its longitudinal center of gravity to hold the bracket on the oar. The pin telescopically interfits with an oar lock socket on the sidewall of a boat with the plate resting across the top edge of the sidewall thereby to hold the oar in an out-of-the-way position along the outer sidewall of the boat.

ilnited States Patent [1 1 Knipple 1 June 26, 1973 1 OAR BRACKET [76] Inventor: Howard F. Knipple, 2416 Lawndale,

Rockford, Ill.

[22] Filed: May 12, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 142,558

[52] US. Cl. 9/1 R, 115/21 [51] Int. Cl B63h 16/06 [58] Field of Search 9/1; 115/244, 24.6, 115/241 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,404,414 10/1968 Goserud 115/24.6

2,606,332 8/1952 Wade 115/24.6

2,708,758 5/1955 Gross 9/1 R 2,724,131 11/1955 Stuart 9/1 R Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-Gregory W. OConnor Attorney-Wolfe, Hubbard, Leydig, Voit & Osann 5 7 ABSTRACT A bracket-mountable on an oar includes a support plate with a pin carried by one end of the plate. A U-bolt is fastenable to the other end of the plate and around the oar at its longitudinal center of gravity to hold the bracket on the oar. The pin telescopically interfits with an oar lock socket on the sidewall of a boat with the plate resting across the top edge of the sidewall thereby to hold the oar in an out-of-the-way position along the outer sidewall of the boat.

8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures OAR BRACKET BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to oar brackets and more particularly, to a bracket of the type which is used to support the oar in an out-of-the-way position on a boat when the car is not being used. A bracket of this general type is shown in Sauer U.S. Pat. No. 2,885,696.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary object of the present invention is to provide an oar bracket which may be used to carry the oar in a completely out-of-the-way position with the entire oar disposed completely outside of the boat so that no portion of the oar extends to the boat to interfere with the occupants or with activities carried on inside the boat by the occupants.

Another object is to utilize the socket portion of the oar lock in conjunction with the bracket, a portion of the bracket being telescoped into the socket to hold the oar along the outside of the boat.

An additional object is to provide a bracket which is easily adjustable to fit on the sidewalls of different boats where the thickness of the sidewalls varies from boat to boat.

A further object is to provide a bracket that can be attached easily to the oar and that will not interfere with the use of the oars during normal rowing.

These and other objects and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a boat with an oar carried along the outside of the boat by a bracket embodying the novel features of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the bracket of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken substantially along line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the boat and oar with the bracket being used to carry the oar in an alternate position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, the present invention is embodied in an oar bracket 10 especially suitable for use with a typical fishing boat 1 1' to carry the oars alongside the boat and out of the way when not in use. Normally, when rowing the boat, each oar is held on the side of the boat for back and forth rowing movement by means of an oar lock. A typical oarlock 13 is shown in FIG. 4 and includes a shank 14 which is fastened pivotally to an oar 15 intermediate its ends and telescoped into an oarlock socket 16.

Herein, the socket 16 is secured inside the boat along the top edge of the sidewall or gunwale 20 so that, when the shank 14 is mated with the socket, the car 15 can be pivoted both vertically and horizontally to propel the boat 11 by rowing. When an oar is no longer being used, it is desirable to place the oar in some out of the way position so that it will not interfere with the activities of the occupants of the boat.

In accordance with the primary aspect of the present invention, the oar 15 is carried along the outer sidewall by the bracket 10 in an out of the way position completely outside of the boat 11. As shown in FIG. 1, the bracket fits across the gunwale 20 and is attached to the oar between the oarlock l3 and the blade 21 of the oar and a keeper 23 mounted on the end of the bracket is telescoped into the oarlock socket 16 to hang the oar along the outside of the boat in the out of the way position. Thus, the oar is carried with its entire length outside the boat and out of the way so as not to interfere with the occupants of the boat.

In the present instance, the bracket 10 is constructed of a relatively small sheet metal support plate 24 with a pointed or triangular inner end portion 25 and with an integral rectangular outer end portion 26. A U-bolt clamp 27 fits upwardly from the underside of the bracket within two laterally spaced holes 29 formed along the centerline of the plate in the outer end portion 26 to hold around the oar handle 30 and fasten the bracket to the oar 15 at the longitudinal center of gravity of the oar. Along each side of the outer end portion 26 is a perpendicular flange 31 extending downwardly to engage the oar handle. As shown in FIG. 3, the lower edge 33 of each flange is serrated and curved generally to conform with the surface of the oar handle. As a result, when nuts 32 threaded on the ends of the clamp are tightened against the top side of the bracket, the clamp is drawn upwardly to press the oar handle against the serrations and thereby hold the bracket against turning around the oar handle.

Preferably, the bracket 10 is fastened to the oar 15 not only at the longitudinal center of gravity of the oar so that the oar is balanced to avoid any tendency for the oar to tilt vertically one way or the other when in the out of the way position, but also, so as to extend perpendicular to the flat plane of the car blade 21. This arrangement allows the oar to be positioned close to the side of the boat 11 and carried with the blade substantially parallel to the side of the boat (see FIG. 1). Thus, the oar is held out of the way close along the outside of the boat and balanced to avoid causing undue stress on the keeper 23.

Herein, the keeper 23 is in the form of a pin fastened to the inner end 25 of the bracket 10 and extending perpendicularly from the underside thereof for telescoping into the oarlock socket 16. Once the keeper pin is positioned in the socket, the center portion of the plate rests across the gunwale 20 and the oar is positioned conveniently out of the way along the outer side wall of the boat with the keeper pin acting against the walls of the socket to prevent the oar from tilting in a vertical plane.

To prevent the'oar 15 from pivoting in a horizontal plane around the keeper pin 23, two downwardly extending and horizontally spaced lips 35 (FIG. 2) are formed on the underside of the plate adjacent the junction of the inner and outer end portions 26 and 25 to engage the sidewall along the gunwale 20 when the oar is carried in its out of the way position. Thus, the oar is securely held in place along the outer sidewall of the boat 11 and, when it is desired to again use the oar for rowing, the oar can be lifted vertically to easily disengage the keeper pin 23 and the socket 16 thereby to free the oar for placing of the shank 14 in the socket.

In order to make the bracket 10 usable universally on a variety of difierent boats, a longitudinal slot 37 is formed in the inner end portion 25 to slidably receive the keeper pin 23 for movement toward and away from the lips 35. Accordingly, such movement adjusts the distance between the keeper pin and the lips as is necessary to accommodate boats having sidewalls of different thicknesses. Further adjustment for sockets 16 of different diameters is provided by the keeper pin which includes a bolt 39 extending through the slot and a detachable sleeve 40 mounted around the lower end of the, bolt and held against the underside of the bracket by a nut 41 threaded on the lower end of the bolt. Sleeves of different outside diameters may be telescopedover the lower end of the bolt and used to fit within corresponding differently sized sockets on other boats. Thus, with this arrangement, the oar bracket is adjustable to securely hold the oar in the out of the way position on different boats.

Preferably, the oar 15 is carried in its out of the way position with the blade 21 of the oar toward the stern of the boat 11 as shown in FIG. 1 so that the oar can be moved easily from that position to engage with the oarlock 13 for rowing simply by raising the oar vertically to lift the keeper pin 23 from the socket 16 and by rotating the oar in a clockwise direction to line up the shank 14 with the socket. In this way, the major portion of the oar remains outside of the boat to avoid cumbersome endwise turning of the oar when it is moved between the rowing and out of the way positions. If it is desired to stop rowing for just a short period of time, the oar can be moved to an alternate position as shown in FIG. 4 with the shank portion of the oarlock remaining inserted into the socket. In this position, the center portion of the oar bracket rests across the gunwale 20 so that the keeper pin catches against the inner sidewall to hold the blade of the oar along the outside of the boat.

It will be noted that, when rowing with an oar 15 that has the bracket 10 of the present invention attached thereto, the bracket will be positioned to face toward the side of the boat 1 1. Because of the location and relatively small size of the bracket, it does not interfere with normal rowing. vIf it'is desired, however, the right and left hand oars may be switched to the opposite sides of the boat and, in this position, it will be appreciated that the brackets face away from the sides of the boat to avoid any possible interference with normal rowing.

From the foregoing, it is readily apparent that the present invention provides a new and unique oar bracket 10 which is mounted easily on an oar 15 thereby to adapt the oar to be carried in an out of the way position entirely on the outside of the boat 11. This is accomplished by making novel use of the normal oarlock socket 16 whereby the keeper pin 23 on the inner end 25 of the bracket is telescoped into the socket with the central portion of the bracket resting on the gunwale of the boat and with a clamp 27 on the outer end portion 26 of the bracket being used to hang the oar along the outer sidewall entirely outside of the boat and out of the way of the occupants.

I claim as my invention:

1. A bracket for use with an oar having an oarlock and being connectable with an oarlock socket to carry the oar in an out of the way position along the outer sidewall of a boat, said bracket including a support plate with an inner end portion and an outer end portion and mountable across the top edge of the sidewall with the inner end portion extended into the boat and the outer end portion extending outside of the boat, clamp means attachable to the outer end portion for securing the bracket to the oar at a position spaced from the oarlock, and a keeper carried by the inner end portion to telescopically interfit with said socket thereby to carry said oar in the out of the way position.

2. A bracket as defined by claim 1 in which said keeper includes a pin fastened to the inner end portion and extending substantially perpendicular to the plate to telescope into the oarlock socket.

3. A bracket as defined by claim 2 in which said pin includes a bolt and a detachable sleeve fitting around the bolt to telescope into said socket.

4. A bracket as defined by claim 2 further including a lip intermediate the ends of the plate and extending generally perpendicularly from the plate to abut the outer sidewall and thereby prevent the oar from pivoting in a horizontal plane about the pin.

5. A bracket as defined by claim 4 in which said plate includes an elongated slot formed in the inner end portion to receive said pin whereby the distance between said pin and said lip may be adjusted by sliding said pin within the slot to accommodate various widths of sidewalls.

6. A bracket as defined in claim 1 in which said plate includes two spaced flanges formed on the underside of the outer end portion and extending substantially perpendicular thereto, each of said flanges having a curved and serrated lower edge for gripping the oar to prevent the plate from turning when clamped to the oar.

7. A bracket as defined in claim 6 in which said clamp means includes a U-bolt fastenable to the outer end portion for holding the oar substantially at the longitudinal center of gravity of the oar and for clamping the oar against said flanges.

8. A bracket for use with an oar having an oarlock adapted to telescope into an oarlock socket on the sidewall of a boat, said bracket comprising a plate having an inner end portion and an outer end portion, means on the outer end portion of the plate for clamping the latter to the oar at a position spaced from the oarlock, and a pin on the inner end portion of the plate and sized to telescope into said socket to hold the oar generally in a horizontal position along said sidewall with the oar positioned completely outside of said boat.

* I I l III 

1. A bracket for use with an oar having an oarlock and being connectable with an oarlock socket to carry the oar in an out of the way position along the outer sidewall of a boat, said bracket including a support plate with an inner end portion and an outer end portion and mountable across the top edge of the sidewall with the inner end portion extended into the boat and the outer end portion extending outside of the boat, clamp means attachable to the outer end portion for securing the bracket to the oar at a position spaced from the oarlock, and a keeper carried by the inner end portion to telescopically interfit with said socket thereby to carry said oar in the out of the way position.
 2. A bracket as defined by claim 1 in which said keeper includes a pin fastened to the inner end portion and extending substantially perpendicular to the plate to telescope into the oarlock socket.
 3. A bracket as defined by claim 2 in which said pin includes a bolt and a detachable sleeve fitting around the bolt to telescope into said socket.
 4. A bracket as defined by claim 2 further including a lip intermediate the ends of the plate and extending generally perpendicularly from the plate to abut the outer sidewall and thereby prevent the oar from pivoting in a horizontal plane about the pin.
 5. A bracket as defined by claim 4 in which said plate includes An elongated slot formed in the inner end portion to receive said pin whereby the distance between said pin and said lip may be adjusted by sliding said pin within the slot to accommodate various widths of sidewalls.
 6. A bracket as defined in claim 1 in which said plate includes two spaced flanges formed on the underside of the outer end portion and extending substantially perpendicular thereto, each of said flanges having a curved and serrated lower edge for gripping the oar to prevent the plate from turning when clamped to the oar.
 7. A bracket as defined in claim 6 in which said clamp means includes a U-bolt fastenable to the outer end portion for holding the oar substantially at the longitudinal center of gravity of the oar and for clamping the oar against said flanges.
 8. A bracket for use with an oar having an oarlock adapted to telescope into an oarlock socket on the sidewall of a boat, said bracket comprising a plate having an inner end portion and an outer end portion, means on the outer end portion of the plate for clamping the latter to the oar at a position spaced from the oarlock, and a pin on the inner end portion of the plate and sized to telescope into said socket to hold the oar generally in a horizontal position along said sidewall with the oar positioned completely outside of said boat. 